3rd Annual Morocco Clown Tour with Patch Adams

April 29-May 7, 2018 | Casablanca – Marrakech, Morocco

(North American clowns will arrive in Marrakech April 29 and leave Casablanca May 8)

**2018 Registration is CLOSED**

Great News! An old dream comes true again! My closest friend in Russia, Marina Schusterman, who has joined us for 20 years on our annual Russian clown trip, has a daughter, Masha, who was a young child when we met. Masha fell in love many years ago with Simone, who is from Morocco and lived in St. Petersburg. After much hard work from Masha and many years waiting for our opportunity, we were able to hold our first Morocco Clown Tour four years ago. This trip will now be our third time leading a group there and our first time offering a two day visit to the desert before the trip (April 27-29).

Program

The Morocco Clown Tour begins from your own front door – all participants travel in clown costume! The emphasis of the program is CLOWNING – We will clown in children’s hospitals, schools, crisis centers, the markets & streets, and everywhere else we go in Morocco!!! No experience is required!

Clowning will open doors unlike any other travel experience. Gesundheit! Global Outreach has clowned across the world with different groups. Our experience has taught us that clowning is an incredible tool for connecting with people and that anyone is able to do it. The only criteria for participation in the Morocco Tour is that you come as a clown, with a joyful spirit of compassion, flexibility and interest.

We will eat together for most lunches and dinners. Some evenings we will have special gatherings and performances. Other cultural activities include: a visit to the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, a traditional Hammam experience and traveling to Marrakech and shopping in the Medinas (old city marketplaces).

We will spend eight days together traveling around Morocco, experiencing unique local cultures ad landscapes, and of course, CLOWNING! We are sure to make many new Moroccan friends. Through our shared journey of service clowning and travel, our group will transform into a community, a clown family connected through our work, play and laughter.

Clowns, please be aware that the trip starts in Marrakech and ends in Casablanca. This means you will either have to book a multi-city flight or fly into Casablanca and take a train to Marrakech. If you have questions or need help with travel itineraries we have more information about who to contact below.

Itinerary

Tuesday, May 8 Depart Casablanca: Clowns go home (we suggest you arrange to leave in the late afternoon or evening so you can be at the closing meeting)

Schedule

Everyday on the tour is unique, though a typical day could include:

Breakfast at the hotel

Morning clown visit in an orphanage

Lunch in a local restaurant

City Excursion

Afternoon clown visit in children’s hospital

Dinner in a local restaurant

Some days will include travel between Moroccan cities; however, the schedule includes at least one clowning visit almost every day of the tour.

***Please be Aware***

1) Gesundheit! has a NO-WHINING policy.
2) This trip is an extremely active trip with a very full schedule.
3) We will be making many group transfers with all of our luggage between cities. You need to be able to manage your own bags and belongings when we move as a group, we will not be using porters. Generally, clown tours are known to include lots of walking and stairs, long bus rides, infrequent bathroom stops, late meals, and late night travel. That being said, as a group and clown family we will all take care of each other.

Cost

$1800

**We are also offering an early bird discount! Register BEFORE February 1st and pay only $1600**

The Tour Package includes:

Accommodations in hotels (with a roommate)

Meals

Transfer to and from the airports

Transportation within and between cities by tour bus or train

Cultural activities

Guided City Tours

The tour package does not include:

International and domestic airfare

Individual Airport Transfers

Desert trip (this is a seperate fee)

The Morocco Tour does not have scholarships available for participation.

Desert Adventure

***OPTIONAL: for those interested in exploring the Sahara Desert, you could add this on to your trip!!

Our friends in Morocco have organized a special trip into the desert outside of Marrakech. If you are interested there will be an additional cost and you will have to be prepared to spend 4 extra days in Morocco. We will need ten clowns to sign up in order for this extra excursion to work. Look over the schedule and let us know if you are interested!

3) In order to register you will be asked to make a $500 non-refundable deposit, this holds your space on the Morocco trip as our trips tend to fill up. You do have the option to either Make a deposit ($500) or Make a single payment for the trip in full. FINAL PAYMENTS ARE DUE BY MARCH 15TH. The $500 deposit is non-refundable. Please do not fill out the form unless you are prepared to make your deposit.

4) Check out the suggested readings about Morocco and Islamic culture below.

5) Once you have made your travel arrangements please fill out this form so we can accommodate your arrival in Morocco.

*Under 18? You MUST have your parental figure fill out this form, and send it by mail/email.

Thank You and we hope you join us!

Trip Coordinators & Facilitators

1) Patch Adams — entered medical school in 1967 to use medicine as a vehicle for social change; promotes and practices living a life of public joy as a revolutionary act; fount of ideas for avoiding burn-out in long-term social justice and health. Enthusiator.

2) Maria & Mohamed — Maria is a clown and art teacher. She started to clown with Patch when she was nine years old (which is strange for her because now she has a son that age). Since then she has clowned with Patch every year in Russia. Maria and Patch always shared the dream to bring clowns to Morocco, as it is the native country of her husband, Mohamed Aouad. Patch and Maria dreamt this dream for many years until 2013 when The First Morocco Clown Tour came to fruition. With the help of a great clown team (Patch, Ginevra, Zag, and Lars) we had the opportunity to make this dream come true. She is looking forward to having clowns share the experience of Morocco for The Second Morocco Clown Tour and cannot wait to see old friends and make new friends too!

3) Ginevra Sanguigno — is an actress and dancer and since 1981 she has been using theater as a vehicle for social change. Ginevra is a clown, instructor, enthusiator, and the founder of Clown One Italia in 2000. She has been organizing humanitarian clowns mission worldwide since 2003 and was part of the first ever Morocco clown tour two years ago.

4) Hayley Shapiro — currently living and working in Iquitos, Peru as part of the “En Belen” project. She has participated in Gesundheit’s Belen Festival (www.belenproject.org) in Iquitos, Peru for the past eight years and now works as a trip organizer for The Festival. Hayley spent her Junior of college abroad in Morocco! She loves Morocco very much and is excited that Maria and Mohamed have planned such an excellent clown tour is this amazing country. Though she will not be traveling to Morocco with the clowns, her role will be to prepare everyone and lend support at every turn. So, feel free to contact her with questions of any kind including things about clowning!

For a sneak peak into some Moroccan traditions, adventures, and experiences check out Hayley’s blog from her 2012-13 year in Morocco.